Method and processes for secure real time purchase validation award system

ABSTRACT

A method and processes for a secure real-time processing of purchase validation award requests is described. The method includes processes to submit purchase information on a real-time basis and to check on the status of the processing of the submitted purchase validation award system request also on a real-time basis. The method uses a computer information network to perform the required processes.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is also based on provisional application Ser. No. 60/447,052, filedon Feb. 13, 2003.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

DESCRIPTION OF ATTACHED APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of product marketingpurchase award systems and more specifically to a method and processesfor a secure real time purchase validation award system.

Awards based on purchases of products and services have long been usedas a key marketing tool. There were only two major types of rewards,coupons which are available to the purchaser prior to the purchase ofthe item designated by that coupon and rebates which are awarded sometime after the purchase of an item that is qualified to receive sometype of that rebate. Items can be either products or services or anycombination of products and services. Coupons are used at the time ofthe purchase and were supplied to the purchaser prior to the purchase ofthe item designated by that coupon and only require that the purchasersubmit the coupon at the time of purchase. Premiums and sweepstakes arealso award systems that are sometimes utilized as marketing tools.

Rebates on the other hand require that the purchaser request the rebateafter the purchase of the item qualified to receive such a rebate.Rebates can be either a predetermined cash value to the purchaser or avariable based on the purchase price and are satisfied by a payment orcredit issued to the purchaser.

As such rebate-style systems have evolved, they have changed into amultifaceted award system, which includes cash based rebates, rewards,refunds, premiums, entry into sweepstakes, gift cards, debit cards,credit cards, gift certificates, electronic gift certificates andcredits to various accounts.

As this award based marketing has grown in size and scope with many moreproducts and services covered by some type of award, there has developeda need for operations that can process the many award requests. Suchoperation are called fulfillment operations or fulfillment serviceproviders (FSP). These FSP operations can be, but are not limited to thefollowing: companies that provide such fulfillment services as theirsole business, part of marketing promotion companies, Web hostingservice companies, a software based operation that outsouces thefulfillment activities, a part of a retailer's operation, a part of amanufacturer's operation or a part of catalog sales operations.

Selling operations can be operations with physical stores, serviceproviders and those that only use the Internet for their selling or anycombination of sales channels. Selling operations can include, but arenot limited to: retailers, distributors, manufacturers, marketingpromotion companies, auctions and service providers.

In the prior art which is illustrated in the flow chart of FIG. 1, instep 10 the purchaser buys a qualified item from a selling operationwhere such qualified item provides for some type of award based on thatpurchase. At the time of purchase and/or delivery of the item, in thenext step 20, the purchaser receives the award request form along with areceipt. The purchaser as part of step 20 fills out the informationrequested on the award request form along with other requiredinformation which may include such things as: the product UPC (UniversalProduct Code). the SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) identification, serialnumber or service identification number. This information is required aspart of the verification process to allow the FSP to confirm thepurchase of the qualified item. The required information can alsoinclude the receipt, either an original or copy depending on the termsof the specific award program. In some cases, the purchaser will beprovided with special receipts that show only the qualified item and canbe used solely for the purpose of requesting the award. Finally afterfilling out the award request form and supplying all of the requiredinformation, the purchaser mails the award request to the FPS using theaddress provided as part of the award request form.

Then is step 30 the FSP worker opens the mail with the award requestform and other required information. In step 40, this worker or anotherFSP worker then reviews all of the information in the award request andmatches it to the award offer. This step 40 is the most criticalfunction performed by the FSP and is called purchase validation.

In step 50, a FSP worker enters data into a computer database.

In step 60 a FSP worker processes and mails out the award to thepurchaser who submitted that award request form.

In step 70 the purchaser receives the award via the mail and the processis completed.

In some cases, this process is modified so that the purchaser cancombine several award requests into one form which is then mailed to theFSP and processed using the same flow as shown in FIG. 1. All of therequired information and the receipts are needed as a part of thiscombined award request.

In other cases, following the submittal of information in step 20, thepurchaser may have the option of checking the status of the rebaterequest using the Internet.

Some methods have been developed to try to improve on the process ofhandling such award requests. The major development has been the use ofWeb sites to allow the purchaser to request a product marketing rebatewhere that Web site is also accessible to the selling operation. In thismethod the purchaser uses a computer to access the

Web site where that purchaser provides the necessary information for arebate including some type of transaction code provided at the time ofpurchase and/or delivery. This information is stored by the FSP in sometype of database. The FSP then receives a large unsorted file from theselling operation containing as a minimum all of the transactions thatwould qualify for a rebate for a given period of time. The file may evencontain all sales from that selling operation for that given period oftime. The FSP must then store all of that large unsorted file in adatabase and then associate the data received from the purchaser withthe data received from the selling operation to complete the purchasevalidation operation and to then finish processing that rebate requestinto a cash value for the purchaser.

One of the problems with the prior art as shown in FIG. 1 is that the,process takes anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks to complete and requiressignificant effort by the purchaser to collect all of the information,fill out the form and mail out the award request. Many potentialpurchasers avoid purchasing item with rewards associated with thembecause of the time-consuming and extensive effort required.

Still another problem with the present Web site based system is that itis limited to rebate offers. This creates problems for the sellingoperations since they can not use the full range of possible awards suchas: premiums, rewards, sweepstakes entries, gift certificates,electronic gift certificates and credits to various accounts.

The other problem associated with the Web site rebate method is thelarge data files that must be transmitted from the selling operation tothe FSP and then stored by the FSP. This is costly and time-consumingfor both the FSP and the selling operation.

Another concern with sending such data are potential issues with privacyviolation, confidentiality, and security concerns.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the invention is to provide a real-time, secureInternet-based method and process for purchase validation awardprocessing and make real-time status information available at all timesto the purchaser, seller and manufacturer using unique transaction datathat is supplied to the purchaser by the selling operation at the timeof purchase and/or delivery.

Another object of the invention is to automatically handle secure datafrom the selling operation where such data is requested using encrypteddata by the fulfillment system of this invention and is limited to onlythe selling transactions that are a part of that specific award beingprocessed on individual record-by-record basis or as a selected datafile.

Another object of the invention is to allow entry of the uniquetransaction data by the purchaser, the selling operation or the FSP.

Yet another object of the invention is that the purchase validation andaward calculation process is automated using a rules-based process.

Still yet another object of the invention is all processing is done onsecure sites with encrypted data and on a real-time basis.

Another object of this invention is that it can accommodate all types ofawards and can present award options to the purchaser.

Another object of the invention is that the purchaser can access thesystem using a secure Web site at any time during the award requestprocessing and select the award or award option while also providinginformation about how the award is to be sent.

Another object of this invention is that the purchaser can access thesystem using a secure Web site at any time to learn the status of theaward process. As a part of this access, the purchaser is given a uniqueidentity to simplify the access procedure. This unique identity can alsobe used by that purchaser for any subsequent award request from the samesystem.

Another object of this invention is that the FSP can check for productreturns or service modifications or cancelations and cancel or adjustthe award(s) accordingly.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, anembodiment of the present invention is disclosed.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there isdisclosed a method and processes for purchase validation award systemcomprising the steps of: a unique transaction code is assigned as partof a sales document supplied during purchase and/or delivery of saidqualified item, said unique transaction code is entered into thefulfillment system on a secure computer information network site usingan electronic system compatible with said computer information networksite, then there is an automatic transmission of encrypted data fromsaid fulfillment system to the purchase site at the same time as theunique transaction code is entered utilizing said secure computerinformation network, included in said automatic transmission is arequest for only the selected data files associated with said uniquetransaction code or a yes/no approval based on the transaction codes,combined data files combining several of said_files or individualrecords of said files are transmitted automatically from said purchasesite to said fulfillment system confirming said qualified iteminformation, rules based control validation process is applied at saidfulfillment system to establish and display award and award options topurchaser using said secure computer information network site, saidpurchaser selects said award or the award is automatically selected andthe purchaser provides additional data on said secure computerinformation network site, using said additional data, said fulfillmentsystem sends out award or data needed to complete award processing usingsaid secure computer information network site, and said fulfillmentsystem provides real time status information to said purchaser at alltimes on said secure computer information network site.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, there isdisclosed a method and processes for secure real time purchasevalidation award system comprising the steps of: a unique transactioncode is assigned for each qualified sales transaction or service as partof a document or documents supplied during purchase and/or delivery of aplurality of said qualified items or services, said unique transactioncodes are entered into the fulfillment system on a secure computerinformation network site using an electronic system compatible with saidcomputer information network site, then there is an automatictransmission of encrypted data from said fulfillment system to thepurchase site at the same time as the unique transaction code is enteredutilizing said secure computer information network, included in saidautomatic transmission is a request for only the selected data filesassociated with said unique transaction codes or a yes/no approval basedon the transaction codes, combined data files combining several of saidfiles or individual records of said files are transmitted automaticallyfrom said purchase site to said fulfillment system confirming saidqualified items information, rules based control validation process isapplied at said fulfillment system to establish and display award andaward options to purchaser using said secure computer informationnetwork site, said purchaser may select said award or award isautomatically selected and the purchaser provides additional data onsaid secure computer information network site, using said additionaldata, said fulfillment system sends out award or data needed to completeaward processing using said secure computer information network site,and said fulfillment system provides real time status information tosaid purchaser at all times on said secure computer information networksite.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings constitute a part of this specification and includeexemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in variousforms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects ofthe invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate anunderstanding of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the prior art of processing award requestforms.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the method of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein.It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may beembodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed hereinare not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for theclaims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the artto employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailedsystem, structure or manner.

This invention improves and automates the processing of purchase awardrequests from the purchaser of a qualified item. A qualified item is aproduct or service or any combination of products and services purchasedduring a time period when some type of award is associated with theproduct(s) or service(s). Such awards usually are in force for only alimited time so the qualified item purchase and subsequent award requestmust occur during that time.

The type of awards covered by this invention are those that are grantedafter the purchase of the qualified item and require some action by thepurchaser to request the award. In addition, there may be a variety ofaward options available to the purchaser that the purchaser can choosefrom during the award request processing.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theflowchart of FIG. 2. In step 100 a purchaser purchases a qualified itemfrom a selling organization during a time period when the award coupledto the qualified item(s) is in effect. The purchase and delivery of thequalified item can occur at the same time or the purchase can be madewith a subsequent delivery to the purchaser of that qualified item(s).At the time of purchase or delivery, the purchaser receives a receipt,packing slip or invoice either as a printed document or via the Internetelectronically. These documents will contain all of the data necessaryfor the purchaser to request the award coupled to that qualified item.The data includes a unique transaction code generated at the time ofpurchase and/or delivery of the qualified item.

In step 110, which may occur some time after the purchase and deliveryof the qualified item or it may occur at the time of purchase and/ordelivery, the purchaser, the selling organization or a FSP enters theunique transaction code that was generated at the time of purchaseand/or at the time of delivery of the qualified item. This uniquetransaction code is entered using a secure Web based system to assureprivacy and control.

In step 120, the secure Web site operating at the same time as theunique transaction code is entered automatically transmits an encrypteddata request to the selling operation wherein this encrypted datarequest seeks only the data associated with the unique transaction codepreviously entered into the secure Web site in step 110. The datarequest can be either for an individual record-by-record file for eachset of transaction data or for a selected data file where several setsof transaction data are combined into one group for transmission.

In step 130, at the same time as the unique transaction code is entered,the selling operation that received the encrypted data requestautomatically transmits back to the secure Web site purchase oractivation data or confirmation data or a combination of all three typesof data also utilizing either an individual record-by-record mode or ina selected data file mode where several sets of the transaction data arecombined into one group for this transmission. Only the sellingoperation data that is associated with the purchase transaction thatgenerated the unique transaction code as part of step 100 and theencrypted data request generated during step 120 is transmitted back tothe secure Web site as part of this step.

In step 140, the secure Web site receives the purchase or activation orconfirmation data or a combination of all three types of data and usescompletely automated rules based validation to determine the appropriateaward or set of award options which can then be displayed to thepurchaser for selection by the purchaser utilizing the secure Web site.This completely automated rules based processing includes fraud analysisto minimize any abuses in the award request. The purchaser may be on thesecure Web site as a result of step 110 where the purchaser was theparty entering the unique transaction data into the secure Web site aspart of an award request.

In step 150, while connected to the secure Web site, the purchaserselects the award or set of award options and provides to the secure Website the necessary information needed to allow for further processing ofthe award request. At this time the invention may assign a uniqueidentifier to that purchaser relating to the specific selling operationso that the process of the purchaser connecting in the future to thesecure Web site for additional award requests for purchase of qualifieditems from that same selling operation can be simplified. Another fraudanalysis using completely automated rules based processing is performedat this tim.

In step 160, this invention uses the information provided by thepurchaser in step 150 to send out the award or set of awards or dataneeded to complete the award process. As part of step 160, the system ofthe invention can automatically check for product returns, changes toquantities or changes to services or cancellations of services. If suchchanges have occurred, no award or a suitabily modified award is sent.The award or set of awards or needed datat from the purchaser is basedon the details of the specific award program established by the sellingoperation, product manufacturer or service provider and the informationprovided y the purchaser in step 150.

This invention provides access to the purchaser, using the same secureWeb site, to the status of the award request processing from step 110 upthe completion of step 160 of the flowchart in FIG. 2 up to and evenbeyond the delivery of the award to the purchaser. The purchaser has theoption to check real-time status of one or more of the award optionswhich may not be complete with the delivery of an award to thatpurchaser.

In another embodiment of this invention, there can be a plurality ofaward requests based on either a plurality of qualified items orservices purchased as part of one transaction or a plurality ofqualified items or services purchased over a time period in differingtransactions. In either such case the processing shown in FIG. 2 isfollowed as a part of this invention.

This invention is designed to be flexible and to accommodate a largevariety of award programs and types of awards. The real time processesand the secure Web site allow for rapid and efficient processing sincethe only data transmitted during the use of this invention is limited tothat directly needed to complete the award request process.

The invention is further designed to work with a variety of electronicsystems. While the preferred embodiment uses a computer or terminal tocommunicate with the system of the method of the invention, it ispossible to use other means such as facsimile machines ortelephone-based systems to achieve the same results. A telephone-basedsystem could use a call center manned by human customer servicerepresentatives or an automated system. The automated system could usean interactive voice response method or could use a touch tone basedsystem.

Various wireless systems capable of communicating with the method ofthis invention could also be used as an alternative to the computerinformation system. While the preferred embodiment calls for a secureelectronic system, clearly a non-secure system could also be used as apart of this invention.

The method and processes of the invention are still compatible with useof the mail to request the award as well as the use of the mail systemto provide the award to the purchaser.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention tothe particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended tocover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may beincluded within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for a purchase validation award, themethod comprising: receiving unique transaction data via a securecomputer information network site using an electronic system compatiblewith the secure computer information network, the unique transactiondata associated with a qualified transaction comprising at least one ofa purchase or delivery of a qualified item; upon receipt of the uniquetransaction data, automatically transmitting an encrypted data requestto a system of a selling organization of the qualified item via thesecure computer information network; in response to the transmission ofthe encrypted data request, receiving a purchase file from the system ofthe selling organization, the purchase file comprising informationrelating to the qualified item; applying rules based control validationto automatically determine at least one of an award or award options anddisplaying the determined award or award options to a purchaser of thequalified item via the secure computer information network; receivingconsumer information from the purchaser via the secure computerinformation network; and based at least in part on the consumerinformation, sending out at least one of a purchase award or data neededto complete purchase award processing related to the determined award oraward options.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique transactiondata is provided on a printed receipt supplied at the time ofsimultaneous purchase and delivery of the qualified item.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the unique transaction data is provided on a printedinvoice or packing slip supplied at the time of delivery of thequalified item.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique transactiondata is delivered by electronic means to the purchaser.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the electronic system is a terminal at a purchaselocation of the qualified item.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising providing the purchaser with a unique identifier that thepurchaser can use to simplify subsequent accesses of the secure computerinformation network.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the qualifieditem is a product.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the qualified itemis a service.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein a status of thequalified item is automatically checked for changes in services or forproduct returns and the award adjusted automatically prior to thepurchase award being sent.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the uniquetransaction data comprises a unique transaction code.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the qualified item is a combination of products. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein the applied rules based controlvalidation determines award options, and further comprising receiving aselection of an award from the determined award options via the securecomputer information network.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein theencrypted data request comprises a request for only the purchase filesassociated with the unique transaction data.
 14. The method of claim 1,further comprising providing status information via the secure computerinformation network, the status information relating to substantiallyreal-time status of processing of the purchase award.
 15. A method for asecure purchase validation award, the method comprising: receivingunique transaction data via a secure computer information network usingan electronic system compatible with the secure computer informationnetwork, the unique transaction data associated with at least one of: aqualified transaction comprising at least one of a purchase or deliveryof multiple qualified items or multiple qualified transactions eachcomprising at least one of a purchase or delivery of a qualified item;upon receipt of the unique transaction data, automatically transmittingone or more encrypted data requests to a system of a sellingorganization of the qualified items via the secure computer informationnetwork; in response to the transmission of the one or more encrypteddata requests, receiving one or more purchase files from the system ofthe selling organization, the one or more purchase files comprisinginformation relating to the qualified items; applying rules basedcontrol validation to automatically determine at least one of an awardor award options and displaying the determined award or award options toa purchaser of the qualified items via the secure computer informationnetwork; receiving consumer information from the purchaser via thesecure computer information network; and based at least in part on theconsumer information, sending out at least one of a purchase award ordata needed to complete purchase award processing related to thedetermined award or award options.
 16. The method of claim 15, whereinthe unique transaction data is provided on one or more printed receiptssupplied at the time of simultaneous purchase and delivery of thequalified items.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the uniquetransaction data is provided on one or more printed invoices or packingslips supplied at the time of delivery of the qualified items.
 18. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the unique transaction data is delivered byelectronic means to the purchaser.
 19. The method of claim 15, whereinthe electronic system is a computer.
 20. The method of claim 15, whereinthe electronic system is a terminal at a purchase location of thequalified items.
 21. The method of claim 15, wherein the qualified itemsare products.
 22. The method of claim 15, wherein the qualified itemsare services.
 23. The method of claim 15, wherein the qualified itemsare purchased over a period of time in several purchases.
 24. The methodof claim 15, wherein statuses of the qualified items are automaticallychecked for changes in services or product returns and the awardadjusted automatically prior to the purchase award being sent.
 25. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the unique transaction data comprises aplurality of unique transaction codes.
 26. The method of claim 15,wherein the applied rules based control validation determines awardoptions, and further comprising receiving a selection of an award fromthe determined award options via the secure computer informationnetwork.
 27. The method of claim 15, wherein the encrypted data requestcomprises a request for only the purchase files associated with theunique transaction data.
 28. The method of claim 15, further comprisingproviding status information via the secure computer informationnetwork, the status information relating to substantially real-timestatus of processing of the purchase award.
 29. A method for a purchasevalidation award, the method comprising: receiving unique transactiondata via a computer information network using an electronic systemcompatible with the computer information network, the unique transactiondata associated with a qualified transaction comprising at least one ofa purchase or delivery of a qualified item; upon receipt of the uniquetransaction data, automatically transmitting a data request to a systemof a selling organization of the qualified item via the computerinformation network; in response to the transmission of the datarequest, receiving a purchase file from the system of the sellingorganization, the purchase file comprising information relating to thequalified item; applying rules based control validation to automaticallydetermine at least one of an award or award options and displaying thedetermined award or award options to a purchaser of the qualified itemvia the computer information network; receiving consumer informationfrom the purchaser via the computer information network; and based atleast in part on the consumer information, sending out at least one of apurchase award or data needed to complete purchase award processingrelated to the determined award or award options.
 30. The method ofclaim 29, wherein the unique transaction data comprises a uniquetransaction code.
 31. The method of claim 29, wherein the uniquetransaction data comprises a plurality of unique transaction codes.